Australia Gets Closer To Gaining R18+ Rating For Games

Grown-up Australian gamers are a little closer to gaining a mature rating for their video games as the country's Labour government has stepped forward to back a new adults-only R18+ certificate that would allow censored games like Left 4 Dead 2 or games that were banned outright like Aliens vs. Predator to see release under the new classification.

A decision on whether the R18+ rating will go forward is expected on Friday, with the classification being pushed forward in response to more adult fare being released bearing Australia's MA15 certificate, which is currently the most mature rating available, exposing adolescents to content that's perhaps a little too strong. Because in those three years between the ages of 15 and 18, so much changes, right?

"Right now games that are borderline at best are often pushed into the lower category so that they can be sold in this country," Colin Jacobs of Electronic Frontiers Australia told the Australian Broadcast Company.

We've become desensitised to pretty much everything now, but for the more tender and impressionable ones out there, an R18+ rating will prevent younger people from being exposed to what some might consider more violent or inappropriate content. Not us. It's all fair game if you ask us. If anything, games aren't nearly violent or inappropriate enough.

"We need a better classification system to protect our teenagers from accessing certain information, and we need a similar arrangement like film because both forms of entertainment are converging," said Home Affairs Minister, Brendan O'Connor.

The rating has the support of five out of six of Australia's Attorney Generals with holdout AG Michael Atkinson being replaced by John Rau, who though not pro R18+, intends to listen to the arguments put forward. So, it's not set in stone just yet, but n R18+ classification for Australia is looking increasingly likely.